Commercial vehicle sector shows further signs of revival

The fledgling shoots of growth in the commercial vehicle sector which initially sprouted in January have continued into February, with the market increasing by 11.8 per cent, following January’s growth figures of 11.9 per cent.

These latest figures are all the more encouraging when set against the backdrop of 2012, which saw the market slide by a total of eight per cent for the year.

The sector’s performance, compiled with information from the Society of Motor Manufacturers, showed a total of 9,149 vehicles were registered in January, pushing units sold for the year to date to 25,198.

Despite the promising start to 2013, vehicle manufacturers should not be too quick to put up the bunting, given the caveat that the rolling figure for the year of 242,318 is still 4.8 per cent down on 2012.

Nigel Base, commercial vehicle manager at the Society of Motor Manufacturers, added further context to the figures: “The commercial vehicle industry’s good start to 2013 continued into February, rising five per cent as the van market grew 11.8 per cent on last year.

“The truck market fell 16 per cent, which may result from owners and operators adjusting their buying decisions ahead of key landmarks in the year, including the Budget which is presented later this week, the Commercial Vehicle show in April and the introduction of Euro 6 legislation at the end of the year.”

Despite showing growth across the board, the largest sector in the van market, that of 2.5 to 3.5-tonne vehicles, experienced the smallest growth, with 5,215 registrations representing a 5.4 per cent increase.

At the other end of the scale, the pickup sector jumped by a whopping 72.2 per cent. However, given the sectors relatively small size, this only acquitted to 1,047 vehicle registrations.